Touch
by Kuma-Idle
Summary: Weavable hands, stuttering feelings,distant voices all wrapped up in one tingle called Touch. IchigoOrihime. Post SS arc spoilers
1. Chapter 1

**Touch**

**1st Title: Perfection**

**Word count: 400 words**

**Rating: K+**

_"You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly."_

_**Sam Keen**_

Inoue Orihime is imperfect.

He says, "Imperfect" not because her faults overwhelm her, but because other words do not personify her at all. To simply say she was "ditzy" undermined her smarts. To say she was "crazy" undermined her goofiness. To say she was a "hot" undermined her soft prettiness.

So while others gagged and wolf whistled at the sight of her chest, Ichigo resulted in calling her imperfect from afar. Her imperfect long hair that shone beautifully in the moonlight as well as the sun, but became tricky and unnecessary during the summertime. The soft weavable threads of laughter he heard from her regularly, but made her seem unintelligent. Her imperfect eyes that where always filled with compassion and hope which sometimes produced small imperfect tears. Tears that were almost always shed because of his actions and behaviour.

Her fingers where imperfect to. Soft and long, not like pianist's which he felt were too lanky and thin but much more similar to an artists. They where much more loving when it came to healing, comforting and all in between. Her kindness was imperfect just as much as her inner-strength, which did not need to be seen, just to be known.

It wasn't until much later he'd realise her lips where imperfect too, in the way she responded to his touch and the way soft moans escaped them fluently when his fingers drifted to unspoken areas. His name would echo in through the walls and soon she'd sleep flawlessly in a ball right next to him.

Breathing in imperfectly. Loving him imperfectly.

Kurosaki Ichigo is perfect.

It is not obvious at first because Ichigo himself lives up to his name. Lots of seeds prickling the outside while the really beauty hid inside.

Ichigo is kind. He defends those who feel meek and does things for others that some may find to bothersome. His words strike the air in passion, and his hands embrace everyone with the will to protect.

When he first touches her, she is nervous but not scared. His hands are gentle in stroking because in truth he is a gentle creature. His gaze is not harmful when he listens to her off-shot comments about pirate-ninjas. His mouth which although sometimes spew unflattering words and gestures to others, is sweet and leaves her breathless as she clings to him when they embrace in the moonlight.

His eyes are always determined and full even if sometimes, when they're so over flown with sadness, her own eyes felt like crying for him. Even if no fault falls on him, he always seeks to make things better

Ichigo was flawed but loving. This is above all why she knows he is perfect.

Edited for rating reasons...


	2. Chapter 2

**Touch**

**2nd Title: Unspeakable words**

**Word count: 300 words**

**Rating: K+**

**Spoilers for Chapter 190 +**

* * *

_Words exist because of meaning. Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?_ **_Chuang Tzu_**

* * *

There are just some words he just cannot say.

"Unbelievable!" you may shriek for Kurosaki Ichigo's mouth is much more legendary that his bite.

But so it is.

One of the words he just cannot say is love. Not the name. The word. For some reason it began to haunt him in silent awkwardness when he was 13. Ever since his sisters started reading shoujo manga (such as the awkwardly cute Furuba), Ichigo has stayed well clear of that word in case of infection.

But what he finds very unusual about words is the way they seemed to disappear when it came to Inoue Orihime.

For one thing, "Thanks Inoue" is all he can offer when she cheers him on. Even when she muses eloquently about her wish to protect him (something he finds very sweet but cannot find words to reflect this notion) he has nothing to say but "Thanks Inoue."

The words remain lame in his mouth.

When she's brutally injured, his eyes speak for him and even then to say something other than an apology is something even he cannot do. Only after Rukia appears setting him straight can he face her again the vows spewing over from his mouth like an entangled vow or prophesy.

Even after that, he cannot even look at her (let alone speak) after his disastrous run in with Grimmjaw, another failure added to an even more expanding list. She remains useful, saving Rukia and the others, where he sees himself fade into the background like a forgotten leaf in autumn.

Afterwards, when Orihime kneels over, healing him once again, secretly adoring him once again, he still cannot find those words.

But to see her eyes gazing down at him, with compassion, respect, joy is something much more valid and meaningful than his quest to find them.

_Perhaps_, Rukia offers _The word "love" had something to do with it._

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**Touch  
3rd Title: Intimacy  
Word count: 372 words  
Rating: K+  
Spoilers: None**

_"Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing."  
_**Rollo May**

* * *

Intimacy is a fascinating experience.

The two of them have their share of fun during moments of intimacy; Ichigo much more than Orihime. She's soft, he knows that but the softness of her lips is something rather different to anything he's ever experienced. Stroking her back with his fingers and caressing her cheeks with his tongue is so enticing and wonderful he sometimes wonders why they hadn't done so before.

When they first tried it had been awkward, Ichigo nearly turning as red as his name pun and Orihime giggling hysterically as his hands stroked near her bra straps.

But now (after how many times he cannot remember) getting caught-up in the moment (like when she's in a middle of a never-ending random comment in his bedroom,) and begin weaving that thread of intimacy is the norm. He likes the gentleness of Orihime that isn't really seen in other people and the way she responds to him. Orihime herself likes the way he seems indifferent yet still somehow passionate about holding, stroking her and teasing her with his flighty fingers.

They even hold hands in these instances.

Isshin gives ratings on his son's "performance" regularly. Whether it was the dismal C+ Isshin gave him, the notes attached to this to improve his "technique", or the fact he had been spying yet again charges Ichigo to blind fury against his father.

Rukia still finds his family charming. Orihime blushes with her new hickeys. The Kurosaki girls remain oblivious to what their brother was doing.

Orihime loves these tiny moments with Ichigo. She regularly notices the way he is happy with her something that makes her very happy in return.

She once rambled on how she was very grateful for this fact during one of their more "intimate" nights; the ones where mewls turn into moans. Ichigo as always listens to her before silencing her (as her Gundam impersonations get going) by stroking her cheek gently.

"Enough," he says softly "It's getting late."

His lips soon move gracefully across her bare shoulders, very light kisses spread equally in each soft spot and soon her nervous giggles turn into supple sighs. He leaves for home later, Orihime waving enthusiastically after him and his half-smile.

She soon realizes they've mastered intimacy fairly well.

* * *

**EDITED:19/12/07**


	4. Chapter 4

**Touch**

**4th Title: With Eyes That Weep**

**Word count: 400 + words**

**Rating: K**

**Spoilers for Bleach Chapter 199, 213, 214**

* * *

Long trembling hands, soft comforting touches, whispers of forbidden promises all wrapped in her mind, comforting her sadness, gracing her heart which ached in pain. If this had been a dream, it would have been a dream she would wish to forget. To feel so useless about something, so lost, so unsure of the future where all her fears combined.

Kurosaki-kun...

She had admitted she loved him.

Sora had never truly explained what love was to her, but she figured it out by herself, in a way it was better. This kind of love was different than the other types she was used to. It wasn't like loving bean jelly, or looking at the sunrise with Tatsuki or watching TV with friends.

It was much more.

"That is why it hurts," Matsumoto explains in between mouthfuls of bean paste "Because you love so much, you hate to see the other in pain. You crush yourself when you can't make them happy and you always choke up when someone else can."

The older woman looks up at the ceiling in silent serenity.

"However." she whispers "If you know that person, can read the sadness in their eyes, feel the pain that is in hovers within them and accept all the bad qualities that may make them seem invalid… then you can just let go of all those other negative feelings. They bind you down to false pretences that the emotion you feel means nothing."

Matsumoto's eyes narrowed directly to Orihime.

"And you know perfectly well, what you feel means something, don't you?"

It remained an unanswered question.

A sudden attack in the night interrupted their meditation session.

………..

Healing the injured began. A face masked in sorrow and uselessness stayed in her dreams for the next four hours. His voice echoed in a stilled silence while confused faces played beside him.

But she knew.

She woke that morning early. Always this early. The sun damasked at her window. Forgotten songs of the morning chanting in her presence. Yet it was the same.

It had happened again. His eyes had said it all.

There was no more light sparkling in his eyes. The clouds and pain where back again.

Yet deep within her, she felt some sort of silent relief. It was a rather odd thing to feel in a situation like this, but she remained very glad for this feeling. This feeling that meant something.

She would forever thank Matsumoto.


	5. Chapter 5

**Cold hands; cold feet **

**Genre: Humour/Romance  
Characters: IchigoxOrihime  
Spoilers: None  
Summary: A bunch of drabbles following the 30romances themes.**

* * *

Though he would not declare this in public, Ichigo had to admit Orihime had the cutest toes he'd ever seen. 

Why?

Well for one thing, he'd never use the word cute outright in a sentence and the other would be explaining how exactly he'd gotten close and personal to see her feet let alone closely identify them as being cute. That being said, he was surprised to see Orihime had cold feet, not so cold as winter, or rain on an April day but they felt frosty and bitter when compared to the warm soft pebble-like structure of her toes.

For a playful retort, Orihime beamed and told him his hands where often cold, and sometimes when he caressed her skin it felt rather ticklish.

Staring back at her with a frown only produced a ripple of laughter deep within her chest before she wrapped her arms around him and insisted that she liked the way it was, because his face always made up for it.

Although Orihime was a bit odd, Ichigo appreciated her cold feet and warm toes.

* * *


End file.
